Michelle Winston (Cataclysmic Gerosha)
}} Michal "Michelle" Anya Minarovic-Winston / Feruga is a superheroine in The Gerosha Chronicles of Dozerfleet Comics, featuring most prominently in the second and third seasons of Sodality. Born in Slovakia, Michelle traveled the world frequently in search of her destiny. She filled in for Candi Levens as Ciem temporarily in season 3 of Sodality, before eventually adopting the "Feruga" persona and her own costume based on the Ciem suit. In addition, she leaves the Sodality of Gerosha to join the Sodality of Florence after her tenure as Ciem was done. Powers, accessories, and weaknesses Powers Michelle has most of the same abilities as Candi, but lacks the virgin aura abilities Candi has. She weighs 131 pounds, but can push or lift nearly half a ton out of her way if she needs to. At 5'7", she's taller than Candi. She can jump about 3/4 as high as Candi, but uses her extra height to her advantage where applicable. Her centilegs are similar to Candi's as well, though the venom is more potent. Her centuition works the same as Candi and Charlotte's also. She is not as efficient at dodging incoming attacks as the other two, given her extra mass. However, she can heal quickly from most bullet wounds, just in case one does manage to hit her. Finally, her abilities include an enhanced metabolism. While she gets plenty of exercise, she is able to keep her weight somewhat regulated. Accessories With the help of Lex Philippine, Michelle was able to customize the Ciem suits lent to her by Candi. She eventually transformed the suits into her "Feruga" identity. While she has all the same equipment as Ciem, Feruga has replaced her right-wrist dart shooter with a whip. (Similar to the whips that were going to be included in the Ciem suit in Ciem: Vigilante Centipede.) She updates her whip periodically, sometimes replacing the standard unit with a specialized whip for whatever situation she's about to face. Her fighting style differences from Ciem are also influenced by her choice in weapons, as she relies on her whips to perform fancy maneuvers that allow her to use her Zeran teleporters more efficiently than Ciem can. This advantage also gives her an extra means to get the jump on enemies, without having to attack them directly. Weaknesses Consistent with Comprehensive Candi, she has a lot of the same powers and weaknesses. Her equipment is also similar. One major difference is that she's not under the Curse of Honeybee Samuel in the same literal, supernatural sense as previous incarnations. She and Donte have a little more self-control in this version than previous versions, allowing them to resist their temptations to go too far on dates better than they previously did. She isn't as clingy this time as in previous incarnations, making his tolerance of her personality quirks more understandable. Like Classic Candi, Cataclysmic Candi is susceptible to the substance known as bezeetol. However, it is a drug in this version. The drug is manufactured specifically to dampen the powers of Phexos and render them dizzy and confused. It is short-lived in its effects, acting as a sort of sedative. Like with every version since Despair Candi, Cataclysmic Candi is particularly susceptible to her powers being dampened if she gets pregnant. This becomes a source of internal conflict for her, as she looks forward to having children. Due to how most birth control pills work, this means that she cannot be on birth control either. Since the Marlquaan is indirectly responsible for how Phexos are able to get their abilities, she is also susceptible to being trapped in MPF fields. However, Emwaults are more directly tied to the Marlquaan. This means that her boyfriend is even more susceptible to imprisonment. Any Marlquaanite she meets, however, is going to have a direct bond, and be the most susceptible. This means that her non-Phexo and non-Marlquaanite friends are essential teammates in reducing her likelihood of capture. Bio The girls' worst fears are confirmed when it's revealed that Jeraime has in fact become Musaran - as predicted. Jeral manages to rescue Emily, but then discovers that the Phaletori are creating a True Centhuen army. And he discovers Judge Terry Beliah is aiding them. He and Emily decide to join Jack in Amarillo to inform him of the news, while Jack does recon on Musaran for SCALLOP. Candi is called on a trip to Mexico to deal with Lobe, and manages to save the life of Michelle Winston. Michelle, who was part of a previous church that Wilbur preached at, is grateful to meet Candi. The two of them team up to save whatever villagers they can in a Mexican village after Affadidah's men detonate a nuclear bomb. They get some help from Angelo "Cocklebur" Abrami, a Marlquaanite visiting Mexico from Italy. However, Lobe escapes to Toklisana. The girls follow him there, and Candi helps Michelle get back to her house. Michelle reveals her plans to move to Oklahoma. Candi, meanwhile, trains Michelle in how to be Ciem in case a time comes that Candi herself is unable to fulfill the role. Candi arrives back on the campus of University of Houston, but finds herself in trouble again almost immediately. Lonny Grivolt spots her and her class doing a field surveying exercise, when Candi finds a joint in the grass. Lonny accuses Candi of being the one to have it, seizing an opportunity to harass her and then arrest her in front of her classmates. However, the case is later dismissed when there is no evidence to definitively tie Candi to any crime. Around that time, Arfaas calls both Musaran and Kimiyato "Milp" Hiriyama to Houston. Jack finds himself dealing with Don the Psycho and Lobe in Amarillo. Botan returns and helps the Sodality finish off Don once and for all. However, he and Jack stay behind to deal with Lobe. The girls get called on by Darius to aid in the safe transfer of the Earwig armor from one SCALLOP base in Houston to another. However, Dolly raises objections that the armor technically belongs to the Malestrom family estate and would be safer there than out in the open where the Hebbleskins could easily get to it. Lex Philippine begins to suspect that his father may be corrupt, as well as his father's right-hand man, agent Jim Oisdaat. Ciem finds herself outnumbered battling all the Hebbleskin troops that come to seize the armor, with SCALLOP personnel also overwhelmed. Dolly protects the armor by violating protocol and putting it on. However, she doesn't fully activate the UI - which was rumored to be psychotic and might reveal unpleasant secrets to her. As the Earwig, Dolly is easily able to decimate the Hebbleskin onslaught. However, this puts her in further conflict with Darius and Jim. She returns the armor to them, grudgingly. They retaliate by having all four of the Sodality girls charged with conspiracy to steal the armor. Candi is arrested at a bakery alongside Dolly, and drugged by Lonny with Bezeetol so she won't be tempted to escape. Jim personally arrests Laurie and Celia, neither of them knowing what's going on. Candi, Laurie, and Celia are later acquitted in a show trial in which Dolly is convicted. Dolly was to be sent to the SCALLOP jail system again, while the others were to be set free. Darius had planned to hand Dolly over to Arfaas so she, the true "liPo" of prophecy rather than Candi, could be executed as a form of appeasement. Arfaas decided he wanted Candi too, so as to eliminate any possibility of misinterpretation. He had his forces infiltrate the SCALLOP headquarters disguised as SCALLOP agents and being killing off real agents with the help of Musaran. Hebbleskin affiliates Anders and Carlos, disguised as SCALLOP, intercept Candi and attempt to chop her head off. She proves resourceful, and escapes from them in time to change into her Ciem suit and collect her belongings. Carlos, beaten savagely, is left to his fate. Anders meets up with another Hebbleskin infiltrator and with Musaran. They've captured Laurie, Celia, and a genuine SCALLOP agent named Shaniqua Tamery. Ciem interrupts matters right as Shaniqua is about to be beheaded. The fight soon turns to the streets as Ciem battles Musaran. She attempts to lure him to a power substation and short out his armor; but his attack is called off by a Hebbleskin operative who orders him into a car to regroup. The fight results in a truck and the inside of a bar both being badly damaged by all the fighting. Meanwhile, Shaniqua executes Anders with an uzi and frees Laurie and Celia. Another SCALLOP agent named Chad intervenes and takes Laurie back to campus to radio Jack and Jeral about what's happening. Jack and Jeral finish off Lobe, then race back to Houston. Shaniqua and Celia, meanwhile, team up with other SCALLOP agents to send the Hebbleskins on the retreat. The Toklisanan National Guard arrives to assist SCALLOP in forcing the Hebbleskins' retreat. Darius moves Dolly to the Houston City Jail for her protection, as retaliation for Arfaas not honoring his end of their bargain to not attack a SCALLOP base while Darius was handing Dolly over in exchange for secrecy about the Earwig armor AI's dirty secrets regarding Darius' past. Arfaas then orders Milp to assassinate Darius for not honoring his end of the bargain to hand Dolly over. Candi is placed under partial house arrest, given her role in damage done to the SCALLOP facility while battling Musaran and as political payback for her refusing to keep silent over Jim having raped Celia. In exchange for her cooperation, Candi is assured that Lonny Grivolt will be fired from the police force and never permitted to harass her ever again. Even so, she is forced to move out of her dorm temporarily and into a SCALLOP jail. She receives periodic visits from Michelle and the Sodality. Meerkat and Mukade arrive in Houston, and soon find information regarding where Miranda is being held. They relay the info to Jackrabbit. However, none of them are able to thwart the arrival of Milp nor her assassination of Darius. Lex seizes the opportunity afforded by his father's death to gain control of SCALLOP. He immediately has Dolly's trial declared a mistrial, and has her acquitted. He reverses Darius' decision, and works with Dolly to remove the Earwig armor's psychotic AI. He also has Candi set free from her SCALLOP jail immediately upon taking control, deciding that SCALLOP needs the Sodality and should be fostering friendlier relations with its members. Candi and her friends are then able to finally get the jump on Milp before she can claim any more lives. Rescuing Donte Seeing a chance to intercept a ship containing the MPF field devices that had both Donte and Miranda aboard, Candi and Jack rush into action without the rest of their teammates, as the rest of them are either in class or else helping Michelle get settled in her new home town. However, their plan fails and the ship they were after explodes. They didn't realize that at the last minute, the Hebbleskins switched Donte and Miranda's cages to a different vessel - the one that got away from them. They searched through the wreckage of the fallen vessel, but found no evidence of any life aboard. Both were overcome with grief, believing their loved ones were dead. An evening later, when they were once again alone, Jack and Candi sought comfort in each other's arms. However, a hug from Candi turned into a kiss from Jack. Candi was hesitant at first, but her pain clouded her judgment. The two began making out, and Jack soon motioned her for a sexual encounter. She protested letting him have exactly what he wanted, saying she wanted to know for sure what Donte's fate was before she let any other man have complete access to her. Even so, she was immediately filled with regret that the two were even touching inappropriately. The following morning, an intercepted message confirmed that Donte and Miranda were still alive. Candi informed Jack that she was going to save Donte when the time was right, and was going to end her affair with Jack. Jack responded that he agreed they should pretend like the whole thing never happened. The Phaletori strikes again, sending True Centhuens forbidden by the new Toklisanan government after Austin. However, the other Sodalists' efforts to take the Phaletori down get sidelined when the Hebbleskin Gang starts launching a full-scale assault on Houston to destroy it. They don't care if they themselves claim it for Netheel, or if it is overrun by Chimerica or Ameristan. They simply want the country gone, to crush all hopes of its citizens. A few other Phexos are reported dead, and the killings are blamed on a "tall, brown assassin with a limited vocabulary." Dolly immediately suspects that Jeraime, having become Musaran, is responsible. Candi and Dolly smuggle themselves aboard one of Arfaas' doomsday ships, and Candi uses Remotach pills in case she has to fake her own death at the hands of an execution team. She is able to seize an opportunity to get the jump on them instead, sparing herself from the trouble of having to reattach her own head. This allows her to hide behind the headless bodies of women who were not so fortunate, sneak into the levels between floors undetected, and cause as much mayhem on the vessel as possible - even smuggling Dolly aboard to wreak even more havoc. She pulls a pin out of her hair that doubles as a Zeran wardrobe, and switches into a Ciem costume. She uses the chaos to deflect Musaran's attention. While she battles Musaran, Dolly manages to free Donte in the nick of time. However, the girls' antics aboard the ship also lead to the release Jordan "the Sapphire King" Reddlwick - Donte's old friend-turned-sometime-rival. The Sapphire King teams up with Ciem, the Earwig, and a temporarily weakened Emeraldon to take down the ship while Botan and Jackrabbit continue to deal with the street situation with Meerkat and Mukade's help. Jack is able to rescue Miranda. After Ciem defeats Musaran using the substation strategy successfully and with Arfaas' invasion plans ruined, the now-stronger Sodality regroups to focus on what their next set of objectives should be in order to win the war that created their team. Moving to Waco Candi and Donte immediately resume their relationship, but an inability to keep their hands off each other compels them to consider getting married right away. Candi eventually tells her teammates that she would soon be going on maternity leave. Not long after the wedding, the McArthurs and Sodality find themselves fighting both the Phaletori and an especially dangerous rogue Meethex-1 named Captain Aardwulf. Netheel as a nation implodes, with Chimerica taking over most of it. Talk of war embroils, as Chimerica grows friendly with Toklisana and Ameristan wants both remaining nations destroyed. The Sodality and Miriam's MSS agent friends are able to defeat Capp Aard, as well as get rid of a dangerous device he stole dubbed the "Ming-Yo." Its sister device, the Ming-Cho, is destroyed by way of three civilians not related to the team. Candi and Donte attend Miriam and Steve's wedding in Alaska, and soon return to Toklisana. During the Cap Aard mission, Candi calls on Michelle Winston to fill in for her as Ciem. Michelle's personal fighting style, however, prompts her to make modifications to her version of the Ciem outfit until she becomes Feruga, a different heroine entirely. Feruga departs after the mission is done, and goes off to start her own sodality. Candi becomes less directly involved in the team's operations, as she begins to focus more on school and married life. Donte begins looking for a job, since he knows he and Candi can't live off her inheritance forever. Around the time that Candi finishes her general education requirements, she decides to move to Waco. The University of Houston doesn't have the CSI school program she wants; so she transfers. Most of her credits transfer with her. A mission in bringing down some Phaletori operatives nearly fails when her powers begin glitching. Botan gets her to safety, and agrees that the time has come for the team to acknowledge her pregnancy and let her leave. The others assure Candi that unless the situation is absolutely dire, she will not be expected to engage in further team operations. With her help, they have grown strong enough on their own to not need her. Candi promises to keep in touch, in case a "dire situation" does unfold. Category: Sodality series characters